FIFA chief shows his sexist side, again

Updated 11:42 pm, Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Once upon a time, FIFA President Sepp Blatter suggested that female soccer players should wear hot pants to attract more sponsors. He also was instrumental in awarding soccer's greatest prize - the World Cup - to a country, Qatar, that severely restricts women's rights.

So the odds of him getting the message about soccer's current sexism issue are fairly slim.

That doesn't mean that people - including prominent voices such as Tom Hanks, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant, as well as soccer stars of both genders - shouldn't keep trying.

Blatter's current antiwoman issue is that at next summer's Women's World Cup in Canada, women will be forced to play on artificial turf. That is something male players would never be expected to do. As witnessed in Brazil earlier this summer, the fields there were grass. Last month, sod was rolled out at Michigan's Big House for two professional teams.

In 1994, FIFA insisted that grass be laid down in the Pontiac Silverdome. As the scientist who was in charge of installing that grass told the New York Times, "I know for a fact that it can be done."

This is an issue of safety: Playing on unforgiving artificial turf leads to more injuries. U.S. forward Sydney Leroux tweeted a picture of her legs bloodied from an artificial surface. Abby Wambach, who will be 35 next summer and is concerned about the beating her body will take, has been protesting for more than a year, accusing FIFA of gender discrimination. Lawyers for players have filed a letter of protest with FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association. Qualifying for the tournament will be completed in October.

Canadian apologists have pointed to Canada's role as the lone bidder for the event, its inhospitable climate to growing grass and the financial cost of laying sod. But FIFA runs the event, is responsible for players' health and safety, and has a reputation for accepting bags of gold as bribes. It can afford to fix the problem.

Hanks tweeted, "Opinion: Women's World Cup is the best soccer of the year. Hey FIFA, they deserve real grass. Put in sod."

However, Blatter might not even know who Hanks is. Doubtful that he saw "A League of Their Own."